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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

On Palm Sunday, I met M. for a promenade around Paris. The weather was unbelievably sunny and every Parisien was outside, occupying every cafe seat and every spot on the grass at the Tuilleries gardens. We escaped to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs nearby for tea.

These strawberry-flavored marshmallows are loaded with memories for French kids as Proust's Madeleine. M. says the "tagada" comes from the imagined sound of horse hoof beats"ta-ga-da, ta-ga-da, ta-ga-da"Haribo created Fraise Tagada in 1969 -1 billion of these candies are sold per annum in France.

Immediately after, I kept seeing Fraise Tagada everywhere! The candy stall pictured above is at the Odean Metro station.And at BLEU DANS L'ILE, with a huge array of caramels...

Here they're being sold on the Pont Neuf . Forget the view. Take a good look at the penny candy. All kinds of stories lurk in these sweets.

My first travel excursions at age 6-7 were to Anthony's Drug store, Elkins Park to puruse stacks of penny candy. That was when penny candy actually cost 1 penny. My search for adventure has never ceased since those days, thanks to penny candy.

Here's the funny thing about France. The French are unafraid to be exceedingly silly. Our concept of them as the ultimate in chicness went right down the drain

19 comments:

I think the lesson Connie, is we run to Paris for a shot of chic and elegance and often miss the more interesting stories hidden in the quotidien objects of daily living...Unless we have a friend like M., who shares with us her memories and helps us to see more

Hi, I just SOOO wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog.I found it a few weeks ago and totally enjoy it.love your artwork. love all the pictures of the shops.My big dream in life is to spend 3 weeks of my life in Paris someday.At the moment I am in the middle of the big woods in Wisconsin.So thank you so much for a bit of Paris!!!

There are so many silly things (and people) throughout the world... I think the French can have their share !!!

My children and I visited the Sweet Museum in Provence... They loved to follow the history of Haribo's confectionery... They used to love their fraises Tagada, their jelly crocodiles and their mini-oursons...

Ah! what a fantastic post toady.That tray contraption you talked about - I used to sell them on wheredidyoubuythat.com, they are called Tipsy Trays from a company in Italy called Banal Extra and you can swing them as high as you like an nothing falls off. Honestly it's to do with centrifugal force. We used to play with them for hours.

What a great tribute to the Tagada candies, I linked back to it from my post on the Tagada Candy cars that were driving through my neighborhood yesterday: http://www.secretsofparis.com/heathers-secret-blog/nimporte-quoi-photo-of-the-week-04514.html

PARIS in yr Mailbox!

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5 and I'm still at it. Now I live by the Seine on l'Ile Saint-Louis. Do consider subscribing to my Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a taste of Paris in your mailbox every month to savor with a hot chocolate and croissant. I paint Paris dreams.